Jon Heidtke, general manager of Fox Sports Net Southwest,stood outside of the Darrell Royal Ballroom at Austin’s posh Barton Creek Resort & Spa following last summer’s inaugural Triton Financial/Heisman Winners Association Anniversary Dinner. He watched as one–by–one college football royalty passed by.
John Lattner. Johnny Rodgers. Archie Griffin. Earl Campbell. Tim Brown. Eddie George.
The winners were headed into an adjacent ballroom for a photo shoot with Sports Illustrated, which had sent a crew from New York to chronicle the historic event. Heidtke, who due to his high–profile position, has been to many exclusive golf and hospitality events over the years, smiled and shook his head. “This is really an amazing event,” he commented. “Really one of the best events of its kind I’ve ever been to. From the production of the event to the access to the Heisman guys – they all seem to be enjoying themselves so much.”
Overall, more than 20 Heisman Winners attended the event – making it the largest gathering of “Sports Most Exclusive Fraternity” ever outside of New York. “It was a fantastic weekend,” said Ty Detmer, a San Antonio–native who won the award in 1990 at BYU. “We don’t get together that often, so when we do it’s very special.”
Last year’s event honored the 50th anniversary of John David Crow’s Heisman–winning season at Texas A&M and the 30th anniversary of Earl Campbell’s historic campaignat the University of Texas. A Celebration Dinner was co-hosted by ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit.Over 100 colllege football fans paid to play in the golf tournament and another 300 were on hand for the banquet.
This year’s event will honor the 50th anniversary of Pete Dawkins winning the award at Army, the 25th anniversary of Mike Rozier’s win at Nebraska and the 10th anniversaryof Ricky Williams historic run at Texas.
For those, like Heidtke, who attended the inaugural event, the dates for this summer’s sequel (June 26–29 at Barton Creek Resort & Spa) were quickly circled. “We’ve had great response from those who participated last year,” said Mike Berry, president of Triton Sports Management, the event’s organizer. “Not only have our renewals gone quickly, but in many cases, people have been anxious to upgrade their packages. We still have some VIP packages left, but not many.”
“College football fans obviously love this event,” said Kurt Barton of title sponsor Triton Financial. “But what I keep hearing from my peers in the financial world is what an incredible corporate hospitality opportunity this is. I can’t tell you how many deals I heard being done, or relationships extended, in between tee–shots at last year’s event.”
For more information or how to participate in this very special weekend, contact Joy Reinagel at 210.663.6520 or email at jreinagel@tritonsports.net or joyrdjrpromotions@satx.rr.com.
